astronomy

K. Kunaratnam

K. Kunaratnam is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand K. Kunaratnam rather than just read about it. In short: Kanthia Kunaratnam (30 April 1934 – 9 September 2015) was a Sri Lankan Tamil physicist, academic and former vice-chancellor of the University of Jaffna. Early life Kunaratnam joined the University of Ceylon, Colombo in 1954 and graduated in 1958 with a first class honours B.Sc. degree in physics.

Key takeaways

K. Kunaratnam belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect K. Kunaratnam to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of K. Kunaratnam from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Kanthia Kunaratnam (30 April 1934 – 9 September 2015) was a Sri Lankan Tamil physicist, academic and former vice-chancellor of the University of Jaffna.

Early life Kunaratnam joined the University of Ceylon, Colombo in 1954 and graduated in 1958 with a first class honours B.Sc. degree in physics.

Career After university Kunaratnam worked at the University of Ceylon, Colombo and University of Ceylon, Peradeniya. He studied at Imperial College London between October 1960 and July 1963, obtaining a DIC and a PhD degree. Kunaratnam was visiting fellow and lecturer in geophysics at the Department of Geology, University of Durham between January 1971 and September 1971. He was visiting fellow at the Department of Physics, Queen Elizabeth College from October 1971 to December 1971. Kunaratnam was appointed Founder Head of the Department of Physics at the University of Sri Lanka Jaffna campus in April 1975. He remained head of the department until October 1980. He was visiting lecturer at the School of Physics, University of Science, Malaysia between Jan 1981 and October 1981. He then returned to the University of Jaffna and resumed being Head of the Department of Physics, serving until February 1985. He was visiting fellow and professor at the Department of Geophysics, University of Edinburgh between October 1988 and August 1989. He was visiting fellow at the Department of Earth Sciences, Bullard Laboratories, University of Cambridge between Sept 1989 and October 1989. Kunaratnam was Head of the Department of Computer Science at the university between January 1991 and November 1993. He then served as Head of the Department of Physics from March 1994 and April 1994. Kunaratnam served as dean of the Faculty of Science twice, from January 1977 to May 1978 and January 1985 to March 1988. He served as vice-chancellor of the university between April 1994 and February 1997. Kunaratnam retired in April 2000. He served as an emeritus professor at the Department of Physics till his death. Kunaratnam was elected fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1998 and fellow and chartered Physicist of the Institute of Physics in 1999. He was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Jaffna in 2001. He published several papers in scientific journals on magnetic anomalies in earth magnetic field. Kunaratnam died on 9 September 2015 in Colombo.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with K. Kunaratnam

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what K. Kunaratnam claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to K. Kunaratnam before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about K. Kunaratnam ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of K. Kunaratnam

In research: K. Kunaratnam appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses K. Kunaratnam in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: K. Kunaratnam is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1934 births, 2015 deaths, Academic staff of the University of Ceylon (Colombo), so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for K. Kunaratnam outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study K. Kunaratnam in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what K. Kunaratnam means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain K. Kunaratnam out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is K. Kunaratnam in simple terms?

Kanthia Kunaratnam (30 April 1934 – 9 September 2015) was a Sri Lankan Tamil physicist, academic and former vice-chancellor of the University of Jaffna. Early life Kunaratnam joined the University of Ceylon, Colombo in 1954 and graduated in 1958 with a first class honours B.Sc. degree in physics.

Why does K. Kunaratnam matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study K. Kunaratnam?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on K. Kunaratnam.